Economic and social cost of fraud 2023 to 2024

Product Description

This report estimates the economic and social cost to society of fraud against individuals and businesses in England and Wales in the financial year ending (YE) March 2024. While previous estimates of the economic and social cost of fraud have only included fraud against individuals, this edition is the first iteration to include an estimate of the social and economic cost of fraud to businesses.

Following the established methodology of previous Economic and Social Cost of Crime reports published by the Home Office, this report considers 3 main cost areas:

• Costs in anticipation of fraud ‑ incurred to protect from fraud prior to an incident of fraud.
• Costs as a consequence of fraud ‑ financial losses and emotional harms incurred by victims of fraud following an incident of fraud.
• Costs in response to fraud ‑ incurred to investigate, enforce and operate the legal system and other institutions in fraud cases.

The cost of fraud against the public sector is out of scope in this analysis. Fraud against the public sector is the responsibility of the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA).